Recent Entries from George VillanuevaMovable Type Pro 4.382014-09-16T14:00:50Zhttp://www.kcet.org/user/profile/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=feed&_type=posts&username=George%20VillanuevaFrogtown Transportation Leaps Forward Down the L.A. Rivertag:www.kcet.org,2014:/socal/departures/columns//1488.759232014-09-16T21:00:50Z2014-09-16T22:37:11ZOrganizers of the Frogtown Artwalk attempted to address transportation issues that could arise as the L.A. River's revitalization continues to attract more and more Angelenos to the riverfront neighborhoods.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
Perhaps the most striking development to the increased artistic and community programming at this past Saturday's 9th annual Frogtown Artwalk, was the conscious attempt to address transportation issues that will arise as the L.A. River's revitalization continues to attract more and more Angelenos to the riverfront neighborhoods.

Elysian Valley already faces parking issues because of its narrow streets and riverfront industrial section that brings large commercial vehicles through the neighborhood on a daily basis. These factors, combined with the collective impact of increased cars, bicyclists, skate boarders, kayakers, and pedestrians that use the area's prime river access points, have created valid concerns amongst residents and businesses who fear the looming congestion that may result from the River's increased popularity.

At this year's Artwalk there was a concentrated effort to relieve automobile traffic congestion and offer alternative mobility options. Organizers created designated parking lots accompanied with shuttles, offered pedicab service on the river trail, and saturated the neighborhood with directional signs of all sorts and colors, designed to help attendees navigate the event.

Local organizer and Elysian Valley Arts Collective president, Tracy Stone, stated that the strategies were deployed as a way to "consider the future of Elysian Valley, how to accommodate all the people who are thinking about coming here for the River, and what solutions could be tested so that it becomes a neighborhood that everyone can use." The Elysian Valley Neighborhood Council funded the strategies through a series of Neighborhood Purpose Grants, and local L.A. City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell's District 13 office assisted with the street closure efforts.

The pedicabs added an active use of the river's greenway trail as it transported Artwalk attendees to the various venues that opened their doors to art, amusement, and live music. Along with the crowds of people who got around on foot, the pedicabs provided the necessary slowing down of some inconsiderate bicyclists who choose to see the trail as a speedway instead of a multimodal space open to public gathering.

The majority of designated parking lots were sensibly placed at the fringes of the neighborhood close to Riverside Drive, with the intent that the shuttles would roam around for pick-up and drop-off throughout the spaces of Artwalk activity. As expected for any parking strategy deployed for the first time, there was some confusion because parking lots and shuttle stops were not as easily identifiable to drivers coming into the area. At the intersection of Ripple Street and Gilroy Street, there was noticeable traffic perplexity. Artwalk volunteers attempted to remedy the confusion by taking to the streets and actively directing drivers to the designated lots and shuttles. As this particular Artwalk grows in future years, there will need to be a more coordinated effort in ameliorating traffic and parking snags.

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Overall, Frogtown Artwalk organizers, like the creative neighborhood they are embedded in, continue to be at the forefront of addressing the impending transportation and parking tensions that riverfront neighborhoods face. Like the local residents and small businesses in the neighborhood, other efforts have also recognized the mobility challenges. For example, the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront District Vision Plan and recreation and commerce advocate River Wild have called for intentional plans for an Elysian Valley Parking District that seek to effectively manage the transportation and parking challenges of the neighborhood in relation to the region.

As Angelenos collectively rediscover the L.A. River as an asset, let us hope that we can collectively join in to ensure that the neighborhood of Elysian Valley is not bombarded by cars aimlessly searching for parking to access the River. Strategies such as designated parking lots and alternative mobility options offer solutions that allow all of us to enjoy the River and its vibrant riverfront neighborhoods.

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Not Your Typical House Tour: Affordable Housing Prototypes in South L.A.tag:www.kcet.org,2014:/socal/departures/columns//1488.711832014-03-27T21:00:59Z2014-08-26T19:34:00ZThe tour allowed participants to engage in the more everyday L.A. residential streets, compared to the celebrity home tours in L.A. made famous by the infamous "star maps."George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
On Sunday, March 23, the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Chapter (AIA | LA) hosted a panel and tour of recently constructed affordable housing prototypes erected in South L.A. The tour allowed participants to engage in the more everyday L.A. residential streets, compared to the celebrity home tours in L.A. made famous by the infamous 'star maps' that parade the affluent Westside and Hollywood Hills residential spectacles.

The tour started with a panel held in the outdoor plaza of the Watts Towers. This only amplified the feeling that this was not your typical home architectural panel, as the participants and panelists were immersed in the sights and sounds of Watts -- the rumble of the Metro Blue Line roaring by; the growls of lawn mowers and blowers used by the gardeners at work on a Sunday morning.

The panel explained that the housing reconstruction initiative was inspired by a Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), aimed at utilizing Federal funds to acquire and rehabilitate (in this case, reconstruct and build new) foreclosed properties in L.A.'s hardest hit communities during the recent recession. The funds were administered locally by the L.A. Housing and Community Investment Department (HCIDLA), and Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles (RNLA) served as the non-profit arm to implement the reconstruction projects across properties, such as the ones identified and acquired in South L.A.

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Deemed as not practical to rehabilitate, the properties highlighted in Sunday's tour were programmed into a reconstruction program that aimed to not only re-build the single-family houses, but also bring opportunities for new and sustainable design technology into the construction process. RNLA executive director John Perfitt says that a driving question behind the reconstruction program was, "how can we introduce unique design to neighborhoods such as South L.A. that have not historically had the opportunity to benefit from such modern efforts?" RNLA's innovative reconstruction program issued a Request for Proposals for the design work and two architectural firms won the jobs, splitting the 12 acquired South L.A. properties slated for affordable housing prototypes.

The houses on tour Sunday evolved from the work of Lehrer Architects (LA). Principal Michael Lehrer saw the design work as a job that first consisted of "falling in love with the streets and neighborhoods," where the houses were being constructed and ensuring that the designs made a "public gesture of respect to the surrounding neighborhoods while respecting the privacy of the future home dwellers."

What resulted are well-designed houses that stand out as modern and beautiful residential structures, interspersed from 52nd to 99th street in South L.A. Built within the constraint of 12,000 square foot lots, the houses take advantage of L.A.'s climate with the smart utilization of windows that allow natural light to illuminate the inside of the house. Prioritized by Lehrer Architects was circulation, as the living spaces are designed for freedom of movement, human interaction, and sight. The ceilings were designed to be high in order to let air circulate more freely. Environmental sustainability was also a noticeable design priority, as front and backyard landscapes featured vegetation and rock gardens adaptable to L.A.'s desert climate. This particularly drove home an important point given the current drought crisis in Southern California.

With any housing innovation in urban communities comes questions we all have to grapple with. One is the idea of whether the housing featured on the tour is affordable in South L.A., with the current price tag of $295,000 to $315,000. More important, as AIA | LA moderator Will Wright expressed, is whether single family housing is the way forward in urban communities across L.A., such as South L.A., Boyle Heights, and Historic Filipinotown, among others. The increased population in such neighborhoods may indicate the need for more density, transit-orient development, and multi-family dwellings.

One design aspect of the houses noticed by some of the tour participants was the replacement of front porches with a more central outdoor gathering area embedded between the front garage structure and the main unit of the houses. This added an alternative take to outdoor L.A. space, as many of the houses along the South L.A. streets visited have the traditional porches that mark the fronts of many of the existing houses on the streets.

Lastly, such housing innovation featured on the tour is faced with the reality of how change is received by neighbors who currently live and have lived for many years in these neighborhoods. One group of neighbors with whom I had a conversation (they did not want to be identified by name) asked whether one of the tour houses on their street really fit the neighborhood's character. The group of neighbors respected the genuine motivation behind the house reconstruction effort, but didn't feel it was the best idea to erect a modern house that "looked more like a house that belonged on the Westside."

Ultimately, housing innovation will continue to be in dialogue with L.A.'s traditional physical form as the city grows older.

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Winners of the Northeast Los Angeles Placemaking Design Competitiontag:www.kcet.org,2014:/socal/departures/nela//2236.702542014-02-28T17:01:09Z2014-03-11T23:58:12ZThe Northeast L.A. (NELA) Placemaking Design Competition is seeking implementable projects that enhance the neighborhood identity, river revitalization, community health, and public spaces of the NELA river area and its adjacent neighborhoods. George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2236&id=8417
We're excited to announce the winners of the NELA RC Placemaking Design Competition! It was difficult selecting a handful of winners out of the 37 amazing design project ideas that we received. Thank you again to all the community members, designers, and artists who submitted designs. We also want to thank our jury of NELA RC partners who scored all the designs.

The designs for each of the geographic categories were judged according to the six placemaking evaluation criteria used for the competition; placemaking potential, social impact, implementation feasibility, sustainable physical design, design creativity, and health outcomes. The winners below represent projects that scored the highest across all criteria when added up, and these 6 winning projects will each win $2,000.

There were also some outstanding projects that we want to recognize below as honorable mentions for each of the geographic categories.

This design imaginatively captures the potential of using the existing structures from the old Atwater Village Trolley line and the River Banks as potential public plaza space to view the increased recreational activity taking place in the River and its Riverfront.

This design's mindful placemaking idea that targets a heavily used intersection, not only provides much needed safety to pedestrians and bicyclists, but also builds on the Riverfront identity as an intersection that leads to Cypress Park's L.A. River Center and Gardens.

This design does an outstanding job building on the cultural history of the region of the Americas and builds a modern interpretation of pyramids that can truly benefit the community of Cypress Park and neighboring NELA neighborhoods.

This design led by local high school students who wait for the bus in front of the lot provides a sensible and safe use of the lot that would benefit the needs of local students, transit users, and community members in the area.

This multi-use project design provides an excellent idea to improve access to the River as a public space for Riverfront residents, businesses of Elysian Valley and visitors who descend upon the River.

This design proposed by local high school students proposes a healthy idea that transforms an existing blighted lot into a community garden and park asset that can serve as a positive space for family gathering and food production.

This design idea builds on the creative and artistic spirit of the NELA region and its Riverfront neighborhoods by connecting them through urban 'Art'cupunture networks and art activation through the River.

Aimed at Frogtown as its initial pilot site, this design project's idea of transforming underutilized planter strips in front of houses provides alternatives for food access and an urban agriculture endeavor for the neighborhoods in NELA.

This design idea provides a functional and creative wayfinding system along the River that not only connects to the identity of the River and its Riverfront neighborhood--but also uses sensible designs to encourage safe mobility uses during day and night.

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The L.A. River Runs Wild Again with Activities this Weekendtag:www.kcet.org,2014:/socal/departures/nela//2236.691682014-02-07T23:30:31Z2014-02-08T01:56:59ZThis weekend a series of activities will support the use of the River and exploration of the adjacent neighborhoods of Northeast Los Angeles.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2236&id=8417Updated: New Dates Below!

Recreating, learning, and sipping coffee by the L.A. River continues to be taken to new heights. This weekend, River Wild, a coalition of local businesses and River advocates, will host a series of activities that support the use of the River and exploration of the adjacent neighborhoods of Northeast Los Angeles.

The schedule is below. You can also visit www.riverwild.la for more information.

Buy local, fresh, and organic produce from eRoots, a social enterprise dedicated to creating an affordable healthy food system in Los Angles. Find out how to bring a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program to your local school and enter a free drawing to win your first box of local organic fruits and vegetables!

Let's Be Frank Hot Dogs: brunch, lunch and more

HEALTH:

LA County Public Health Free Flu Vaccines: 8am-2pm

Meet your LA County Department of Public Health district nurses, find out about local health resources, and receive your flu vaccine.

LA Food Policy Council with Good Food Pledge: 11am-3pm

Meet the team, take the Good Food Pledge, and learn about the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network resources for communities and corner store owners! Find out how to get involved in the movement to make LA a Good Food Region for All -- where food is healthy, affordable, fair and sustainable.

BIKES AND TOURS:

Coco's Variety ½ day & Full Day Bike Rentals: 8am-5pm

Elysian Valley Neighborhood Bike Tour: 11:30am

This one hour bike tour will be led by Helen Leung, Elysian Valley native and bicycle explorer.

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Free Lo(t)s Angeles!tag:www.kcet.org,2014:/socal/departures/columns//1488.691852014-01-24T21:00:07Z2014-01-24T23:46:55ZDilapidated buildings and vacant lots typically bring up perceptions of urban blight; this does not have to be the case, however.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
Peppered across under-invested areas in Los Angeles are underutilized spaces, such as dilapidated buildings and vacant lots, which typically brings up perceptions of urban blight. This does not have to be the case, however -- through the engagement of the communities in these areas, residents, businesses, activists, and policymakers can reclaim these underutilized spaces and imagine an alternative that is healthier for the community.

The transformation from vacant lots to community assets that promote healthy activity is the mission of Free Lots Angeles (FLA). A coalition of like-minded organizations, FLA engages the community to identify vacant lots and hold "pop-up" activities that re-imagine the spaces to promote healthy uses. The founding members of FLA are: Community Health Councils, T.R.U.S.T. South L.A., Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, the Advancement Project, Leadership for Urban Renewal Network, and Kounkuey Design Initiative.

Last month, Free Lots Angeles officially launched their initiative at Mercado La Paloma in South L.A. At the launch, the coalition talked with the local community about their health promoting activities, and why they believe vacant lots should be transformed into health promoting sites.

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Andres Ramirez, from the Community Health Councils and one of the organizers of the Free Lots Angeles, says that the initiative is important because "it can spark the desire to see the transformation of vacant lots through to its fruition. I feel like things will grow from there."

Indeed, in many under-invested areas of the city, it remains the work of community organizations and activists to ignite the local community and reclaim the underutilized spaces that they want to see change. Unlike higher income neighborhoods of the city that are privileged with amenities and money to invest in the construction of community resources, under-invested neighborhoods benefit from the work of coalitions such as Free Lots Angeles that work together and engage the residents to imagine a different future. This can bring attention to the community's visions for the lots, and encourage the city and investors to take a serious look at the development of these lots into healthier spaces.

The first lot identified by Free Lots Angeles is located in Watts, at 11300-11320 South Monitor Avenue. This Saturday, January 25, from 12-4 p.m., the coalition, along with community members, will activate the lot and hold a community fair, organize kids activities, coordinate bike rides, play music, and have food trucks.

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Grand Park's Inaugural New Year's Eve Creates a Central Celebration for L.A.tag:www.kcet.org,2014:/socal/departures/columns//1488.685872014-01-09T00:00:52Z2014-01-09T20:34:33ZThe inaugural event left many to imagine a genuine Los Angeles-centric celebration that has the potential to become as iconic as Times Square.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
Angelenos are often left to applaud New York City's iconic New Year's Eve drop of the ball in Times Square, which remains the quintessential example of a centralized city celebration. Los Angeles notoriously remains the fragmented and polycentric city that does not conjure up notions of an established public New Year's Eve bash.

Grand Park's inaugural New Year's Eve event, though, left many to imagine a genuine Los Angeles-centric celebration that has the potential to become as iconic as Times Square, or the grand fireworks displays in London or Dubai.

Along with tens of thousands of attendees that packed Grand Park last Tuesday night, I came to ring in 2014 with friends. In a year of many firsts since the park first opened in 2012, this was its inaugural New Year's Eve festivity and it presented a chance to be part of L.A. history.

As an array of engaging lights and digital projections assaulted the senses, the first impression that dawned upon me as I emerged from the Metro Red Line Civic Center station was the throngs of revelers that represented multiethnic and multicultural Los Angeles. The crowd was not just the new DTLA professional class that has moved into the area, or the creative class that crowd Spring Street's Art Walk. They appeared to be from the many walks of life in all of L.A. The diversity was enhanced by a healthy dose of families with their children, who created a sense that Grand Park was the elusive "public space" that L.A. often has a hard time pinning down, with any of its anointed public parks.

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Much has been said of Downtown L.A.'s renaissance in the past 15 years. But there was an extra engaging aspect to Grand Park's investment in programming the space to light up the night and just about everything surrounding the park. Silver Lake resident Russell Horning, who came to celebrate, stated that the space was engaging because of the "crowds, digital visions, and transit access."

The highlight of the digital visions was the dynamic 3-D projections that illuminated the 22 floors of City Hall with a multitude of images that included palm trees, waves, fish, spotlights, a clock, and "NYELA," for "New Year's Eve Los Angeles." The new year was brought in with a countdown that culminated with an image of the four-digit year breaking through a crumbling City Hall edifice, inspiring the hoards of people to go wild and collectively ring in the New Year.

An especially engaging aspect of the programmed space was the series of installations that created photo opportunities for the many attendees. The historic Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain by the Grand Avenue park entrance was the most popular, but attendees also took pictures with multiple L.A. 2014 installations and with a set of props that were digitally projected as a slideshow on the County Hall of Records building that flank the park.

The inaugural event had room for improvement as well. The park reached capacity quickly and many were turned away, causing some crowds to become restless and attempt to crash the gates. Lines were endless for the food trucks, beer, and photo
activities. To increase an even more L.A. feel to the food vending, there could have been an initiative to create intentional space reserved for food vendor carts and taco trucks that dot the landscape of everyday L.A., instead of the gourmet food trucks that often receive the privilege to post up at large public events such as Grand Park NYELA.

Regardless, Grand Park, L.A. County, city, and organizers are deserving of a round of applause for a memorable inaugural production. Los Angeles' continued evolution into a global city is only expedited with such an event that could potentially become an iconic event, spread across global media channels, similar to the images of other city celebrations ingrained in our consciousness.

Photos: George Villanueva

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L.A. Eco Village: 20 Years as a Model of Sustainable Livingtag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/columns//1488.677482013-12-19T23:00:06Z2013-12-19T23:44:12ZBorn in 1993, the Los Angeles Eco Village has embodied what cooperative living can be when a collective of people commit to ideals of community and sustainable urban space. George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
Born in 1993, in the same 90004 zip code where I was born and raised, the Los Angeles Eco Village (LAEV) has embodied what cooperative living can be when a collective of people commit to ideals of community and sustainable urban space. Last week the LAEV celebrated its 20 year anniversary with a fundraiser event, marking their enduring pledge to sustainable living. LAEV is nestled within a two block stretch of Bimini Place and White House Place, off of First Street, just east of Vermont Avenue. The space includes cooperative affordable housing, native landscape, on-site food growth, micro social enterprises, a community land trust, pedestrian-friendly streetscape, bike-friendly amenities, and a host of democratic community-building activities. To visit is to not only feel the history of community transformation, but also be inspired about what a more livable L.A. can exemplify.

The special honoree for the 20th anniversary was the former LAUSD Boardmember, City Councilmember, and State Assemblymember for the area, Jackie Goldberg, who fought side by side with LAEV to make the physical and social space for the village that we see today. Goldberg, who is the embodiment of progressive politics for this city, expressed that she admired how LAEV members "not only talk about what to do, but live it and demonstrate it." This statement cannot be understated, as LAEV is not some short-term demonstration project, such as the curbside projects we see during Park(ing) Day; LAEV has been an everyday living and breathing community for the last 20 years. It has fought hard against mainstream urban initiatives to dehumanize our streets and communities through the privileging of automobile culture, and gentrification that has made the again-popular inner-city neighborhoods unaffordable for the working and middle classes.

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As much as LAEV is celebrated as a physical space that demonstrates sustainability, the anniversary event highlighted the social space created through strong relationships and bonds. Jill Sourial, former resident of LAEV for five years, and community land trust founder, describes it as an engaging space where the "energy and creativity are not only transforming physical spaces like the garden or the street, but also social spaces in ways that demonstrate the very real challenges and benefits of living in community and making decisions together."

It is this consciousness, of not only dealing with the benefits of democratic decision-making, but also confronting the challenges of living cooperatively, that make LAEV trailblazers in social sustainability. As LAEV friend Julia Russell states, it is a place that can be understood as "persistent, nurturing, and evolutionary." These words indicate the collective understanding that change does not happen overnight, but takes time, understanding, empathy, and a willingness to adapt to people at different worldviews.

The willingness is evident in Lois Arkin, of the Cooperative Resources and Services Project (CRSP), who helped found LAEV in 1993 in the very neighborhood she had been living in for the previous 13 years. We were all affected by the 1992 L.A. civil unrest and the burning that engulfed our neighborhoods. Lois and CRSP did not run away from their neighborhood like many had in the face of urban disharmony; instead, in true LAEV fashion, she, CRSP, and the host of LAEV members that have lived and live there today took on the challenge to demonstrate sustainability in a part of the city that could benefit from empathetic and cultural innovation. This kind of commitment to action are essential indicators of engaging spaces in Los Angeles. To hear more about the history of LAEV and its visions for the future, I sat down with Lois for an interview.

What is the short history and vision of L.A. Eco Village?

LAEV was started in 1993 after about 10 years of envisioning and planning. By the late 1980s we had settled on an 11 acre vacant city-owned site, a non-toxic landfill in northeast L.A., about seven miles from our current location. We envisioned the initial site to be a new construction, state-of-the-art eco-development that might have taken decades to develop, millions of dollars, and not be without a great deal of pushback from the existing neighborhood in Montecito Heights, which we had already begun to experience. Nonetheless, with a great volunteer committee, including several visionary architects, our focus and public advocacy for that site resulted in the LAEV concept being included in the City's Housing Element in the late 1980s, along with an award for Advocacy Planning from L.A.'s Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Then, it was 1992 in L.A., and much of our city went up in flames as a result of the Rodney King verdict. So while others were out that weekend cleaning up or getting ready to leave town, our 20 person planning committee began to engage in a six month dialog around the question: "What should our priorities be in inner-city L.A.? Should we be developing a sexy new $25 million development that will take decades to do, or should we do the LAEV as a retrofit of an old built-out neighborhood that was deeply affected by the riots, where all the infrastructure is in place, and where we might demonstrate that a very diverse community can get along?

At that time I had lived on the corner of Bimini and White House Place for 13 years. Since there were several fires in my immediate neighborhood during the uprisings, it made sense to decide to do the retrofit in this neighborhood, where at least one person in the planning group had a well-established presence, unlike our plan for Northeast L.A. This was an important lesson which we have shared over and over again with folks who want to start any type of intentional community: get to know and develop congenial relations with the neighbors who already live where you are planning to develop or move in.

So, it was an enthusiastic "yes!" from our planning committee to begin the LAEV right in "Lois' neighborhood," where the group had been regularly meeting in my home-office. We worked with our existing neighbors, as well as those who would move intentionally to the neighborhood, to be part of the demonstration aspects of the project.

On January 1, 1993, we launched. Two or three volunteers hung out with me in the neighborhood each week, walking up and down the street, meeting neighbors, introducing neighbors to one another, planting fruit trees and little gardens with the neighborhood kids. We also introduced something I later referred to as "positive gossip," sharing all the good things we learned about our neighbors, so that other neighbors would be enthusiastic about meeting one another.

In its broadest sense, the LAEV vision was to reinvent how we live in the city by demonstrating the processes of living more ecologically and more cooperatively, thereby creating a higher quality of life at a much lower environmental impact. As we became increasingly aware of how to integrate the social, economic, and ecological processes and systems of the neighborhood, we grew more and more adept at walking our talk without judgment and without self-righteousness.

The fact that we have survived 20 years, as a thriving and diverse community with a well established culture of sustainable living, have significantly influenced public policy, and have a worldwide reputation for being among the most prominent urban ecovillages -- that all seemed to add up as good reasons to celebrate, something we had never done publicly before.

What makes LAEV an engaging space to you?

We have achieved several of our initial goals, so that is very gratifying. For example, we now have a 35 member intentional community, most of whom live in two adjacent apartment buildings and are organized as the nonprofit Urban Soil/Tierra Urbana limited equity housing cooperative. The land underneath the buildings is owned by our nonprofit Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust. These two organizations ensure that the property is permanently affordable and can never return to the speculative real estate market. The Land Trust is in the process of developing a quarter acre multi-school learning garden in association with the LAUSD, where we will have the opportunity to work with kids from the eight public schools within walking distance of us, and ultimately with some of the adjacent neighborhoods where the kids live.

We achieved all these land and building acquisitions without the use of conventional banking. We created our own Ecological Community Revolving Loan Fund, which borrowed close to $2 million from our friends and others, and most of it has already been paid back.

Most of us are active members of the Arroyo Seco Network of TimeBanks, a complimentary currency that is growing throughout the world. Very few of us own cars, and those cars that are owned by our members are shared, when needed. We are an active biking community, including several of our members in their 70s (I'm 76). Bicycle activism has been on-going for several years. The Bicycle Kitchen, the Los Angeles Country Bicycle Coalition, and CicLAvia got their initial start from LAEV members. So we are very proud of the role that LAEV has played in the expansion of bicycle culture in L.A.

Our members are active in a variety of other social justice and environmental organizations, and we frequently host meetings, retreats and gatherings for other groups. Several of us are active in our Rampart Village Neighborhood Council and have been strong advocates for more sustainable practices in our City. We hold regular public events on a variety of topics about urban sustainability with visiting experts from throughout the world. Public tours for kids, college students and groups and individuals happen several times each month. Our art and music workshops for neighborhood kids are a big hit.

Next year we intend to transform a portion of our main street into a People Street where we will hold a variety of public events. People Streets are being encouraged by the City to re-purpose "wasted asphalt" into public plazas.

From living and helping lead LAEV, what have you learned about ecology, space, and community in the last 20 years?

We have drawn so much expertise to our membership, we are all learning from one another all of the time. I co-wrote and co-edited one of the first ever books on urban sustainability, "Sustainable Cities: Concepts and Strategies for Eco-City Development" (Eco-Home Media, 1992), so I thought I had learned quite a bit. But after we became property owners and actually began to research building materials on the basis of the most local, the most recycled content, the least toxic, and the least polluting, wow! It was changing all of the time. And one had to really learn where and how to keep up, and how to recognize "green washing" by businesses that just wanted to appear green to get you to buy their products.

On the social end of things, it is critical to have all-around congenial relations with people you plan to own a multi-million dollar business with, whether for profit or non-profit, and with whom you want to change the world. So it took us much longer than it would have a conventional community development organization to develop our Co-op and Land Trust, the backbone of our economic systems, because we had a lot of work to do to build sufficient relationships and trust and the culture of social sustainability. And of course, initially, there was no paid staff; we were all volunteers learning to live together to change our city and the world!

Again, I co-wrote and co-edited one of the few books in the country on collaborative living, "Cooperative Housing Compendium: Resources for Collaborative Living" (UC Davis, 1993), and it was a breeze compared to the many years of effort and paid process consultants it took to get the LAEV community's inter-personal relations to a healthy level. And that is work that is on-going. We have been trained in consensus, meeting facilitation, and have a very active conflict resolution team, most of who have been certified in conflict mediation.

What do you think is the future of LAEV in the next 20 years?

Car-free and asphalt-free two block neighborhood, and, hopefully, extending to several lanes of Vermont Avenue, First and Third Streets.

To return all organic wastes to the earth, create all of our own new soil, including use of safe humaure from all of our composting toilets.

No water be wasted, with rainwater catchment, cisterns, rainwater gardens; use greywater and have a neighborhood-based beautiful biological living machine, which renders harmless any other used water, grey or black.

100% renewable energy, including wind, solar, geothermal human, animal; we will have reduced energy needs by 70% or more because of changed living patterns.

All neighbors on our two blocks will identify as living in the LAEV neighborhood, be connected via one or more of our local community organizations, and be actively involved.

Neighborhood-wide conflict resolution center will be pro-actively involved in any neighborhood disputes, and on-going training and education on communication processes such as non-violent communications.

Place-based educational "home schooling" systems in the neighborhood for K-12 and beyond. Lifelong learning is part of the culture of the neighborhood.

Health and healing will be oriented toward wellness and prevention, natural, holistic, related to the whole social, economic, and ecological fabric of the community, basic safe sex, family planning, and spacing will be a given.

The whole neighborhood will work at increasing biodiversity toward creating healthy and balanced ecosystems.

Everyone in the neighborhood banks with a people-owned credit union and local Time Bank or other local currency of the day.

We continue to demonstrate a different way of living in our city and share what we have learned with Neighborhood Councils, condo and tenant organizations, HOAs, and public agencies throughout the area and the world.

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Federal Grantees Convene in D.C. to Spur Conversations on Sustainable Communitiestag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/nela//2236.677662013-12-18T20:00:35Z2014-01-14T17:55:56ZRegional planners came together to share the progress on their planning, best practices, and spur on conversations on how to implement their visionary ideas for their communities.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2236&id=8417
What does it take to make a sustainable community? That has been the question, planning challenge, and implementation goal for the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative (NELA RC) and 142 other HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities (PSC) grantees across the nation, in the past three years.

This month, at the third annual grantee convening led by the HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, regional planning and community challenge planning grantees came together to share the progress on their planning, best practices, and spur on conversations on how to implement their visionary ideas for their communities.

A point of innovation for the grantees continued to be the original vision of the grant program -- to go beyond baseline understandings of sustainability that are only concerned with green and ecological aspects of the term. As a point of departure, the grantees were challenged with thinking about their plans and place-based projects in relationship to the people who live and who will migrate into their geographies. This framework focused on the following six livability principles developed by the PSC:

provide more transportation choices

promote equitable, affordable housing

enhance economic competitiveness

support existing communities

coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment

value communities and neighborhoods

This framework signaled a daunting task for the multiple disciplines, agencies, practitioners, and communities: that they would need to work interdisciplinary to deliver plans that speak to these six pillars of livability and sustainability. This continues to be the challenge locally, as the NELA RC and its multidisciplinary team of city agencies, non-profits, private sector developers, universities, and public media develop a Vision Plan and Economic Development Implementation strategy for the northeast L.A. River area, including the neighborhoods of Atwater Village, Cypress Park, Elysian Valley, Glassell Park, and Lincoln Heights. Nationally, the same sentiments and goals of working across sectors resonated with the grantees that packed the atrium of the Department of Transportation federal building.

The PSC initiative is not only a program with its own goals, but an experimentation in social innovation that has forced its many grantees to learn what partnership and sustainability is to them, as they were immersed in the guts of place-based and community-driven planning.

The NELA RC asked some of the fellow grantees "What does it take to make a sustainable community?"and they shared their thoughts in the photos below.

Photos: George Villanueva

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Lighting Christmas Parols in Historic Filipinotown with Prayers for Victims of Typhoon Haiyantag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/landofsunshine//1488.673582013-11-27T22:30:17Z2013-12-11T03:19:11ZSanta Claus, Christmas trees, and mistletoes have become American symbols of the holiday season. For the Philippines and its diaspora that live across the globe, it's the parol, or Christmas lantern, that represents the advent of the Christmas season.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
Santa Claus, Christmas trees and mistletoes have become American symbols of the holiday season. For the Philippines and its diaspora that live across the globe, it is the parol (Christmas lantern) that occupies the primary symbol that represents the advent of the Christmas season. As of last week, L.A.'s own public version of parols are now erect along the street light posts of Temple Street in Historic Filipinotown, colorfully illuminating the thoroughfare at night.

On November 25, the Historic Filipinotown Neighborhood Council (HiFi NC) celebrated the 6th annual Polemount Parol Lighting, which included 31 local business- and family-sponsored parols that line Temple Street in Historic Filipinotown (HiFi), between Hoover Street and Glendale Boulevard. HiFi NC president Cecile Ramos sees the parols along Temple Street as not only a Filipino cultural tradition, but also a way to "align itself with the vision to strengthen the local business climate and help make Historic Filipinotown a tourist destination."

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Parols are made to resemble the star of Bethlehem and its role as a light that guided the three wise men to Jesus. Traditionally made of bamboo, papél de Japón (Japanese rice paper), decorative tails, and a candle or coconut oil lamp for lighting, today's parols are made of various materials and come in different shapes. The Temple Street parols are made of metals, lights, and other materials, all approved by the city's Building and Safety Department since they are mounted on the street lamp posts that access the city's power grid.

Originating in the largest Catholic nation in Southeast Asia, the Philippine parol is influenced by Spanish colonial religious traditions and language, as farol in Spanish means lantern. The Mexican piñata, inspired by Italy and then Spain, also influenced the outdoor hanging of parols via the shared Spanish colonial history of the Philippines and Mexico.

Even though its religious origin is western Catholicism, the parol can be understood as a cultural symbol inherently rooted in local Philippine practices of faith and prayer. Used by villagers in the past, the parol guided the way to the Misas de Aguinaldo (Gift Masses) that started on December 16 and ended with the Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Rooster) on Christmas Eve. The parol continues to be the light that guides the Philippine people's Catholic spirituality, but also symbolizes sentiments of hope for a better situation in the face of life's challenges.

The lighting of the parol along HiFi's Temple Street took on extra significance this year as a symbol of hope, as the approximately 100 attendees at the FACLA (Filipino American Community of Los Angeles) community hall were weighed down with heavy hearts, sending prayers for the victims of the November 8 Typhoon Haiyan (aka Yolanda) in the Philippines. On record as one of the most devastating typhoons ever, organizers and speakers at the parol lighting event first held a vigil for the victims and reminded the crowd that this year's parol festivities must think about the home nation's current struggles. Local Philippine Consul General Helen De La Vega expressed that the parol lighting must be in remembrance of the "brothers and sisters grappling with hardship in the Philippines, and that the parol lighting must signify hope -- and that we must give donations to help the country back home."

Typhoon Haiyan has locally touched many in the Philippine diaspora in Los Angeles, including myself. My family on my father's side, who live in the town of Kalibo in the Western Visayan Islands province of Aklan, experienced part of their roof flying off and windows shattering during the typhoon. Fortunately for my family, no deaths were suffered. This can't be said for many other victims of Haiyan, as it has, as of today, officially claimed over 5,500 people, resulted in thousands missing and injured, and has displaced millions.

The relief effort has intensified across the world, including strong local efforts by the Filipino-American community and non-Filipinos alike. With the anticipated rising death toll and the arduous task of rebuilding, continued relief efforts and more donations will be sorely needed. Symbolic of the hope, faith, and spirit of giving that is needed, the lighted parols along Temple Street engage us Angelenos to think of the typhoon victims during this Christmas season, and hopefully encourages us to donate in support of the country's recovery.

For resources on how to support the relief efforts, please click on the following links:

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Frogtown's Neighborhood Artwalktag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/nela//2236.648872013-10-02T19:00:45Z2013-11-19T01:04:54ZFrogtown's Artwalk has a distinctly neighborhood feeling, as many of its galleries and performances operate out of resident garages, in resident driveways, or on street curbs.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2236&id=8417The NELA Riverfront Collaborative is an interdisciplinary project that builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. KCET Departures is the media partner of the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative. For more information visit the website www.mylariver.org

This past Saturday, the Elysian Valley community opened its studios, workshops, houses, streets, and hospitality for the 8th annual Frogtown Artwalk, organized by the Elysian Valley Arts Collective. Crowds of Angelenos came out to celebrate the Northeast L.A. riverfront neighborhood's creative community and spirit.

Elysian Valley boasts an artwalk different from others in L.A. Instead of being located in an area with heavier commercial presence, such as the Downtown Artwalk on Spring Street, Frogtown's Artwalk has a distinctly neighborhood feeling, as many of its galleries and performances operate out of resident garages, in resident driveways, or on street curbs. Elysian Valley resident, and Elysian Valley Arts Collective board member, Helen Leung feels the Artwalk is unique because "the whole community gets involved. Participants feel a sense of community in the exhibits and streets. The Artwalk is truly reflective of the culture and history of the neighborhood."

Visitors to the Frogtown Artwalk definitely got the sense that local culture and history is highly valued in Elysian Valley. The neighborhood's nickname is a gesture to its geographic history -- "Frogtown" references the plethora of frogs that use to populate the adjacent river before it was concretized. The local multiethnic population is present through the vending of Latin foods on the street curbs, or the porches of residential houses. And the local culture's creative spirit that has infected the neighborhood in the last two decades is displayed through its businesses, houses, and community organizations opening up its doors to exhibitions of local arts.

Lastly, the Frogtown Artwalk is an example of neighborhood-driven and organic economic development, in relation to the increased interest in river revitalization. The arts collective, local businesses, and especially the residents, are sensitive to the rapid changes and speculative real-estate interest in their neighborhood, due to its proximity to a key urban asset that is the L.A. River. Where river developments in other cities nationwide have marketed large-scale infrastructure and commercial developments, Elysian Valley's Artwalk is a leading example of what smaller scale economic development and arts initiatives can exemplify.

Top: Attendees check out art on display at RAC Design Build who opened up their space to multiple exhibits and music performances. Photo by George Villanueva.

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LINES + LANES: Activating Public Space at CicLAvia's Grand Park Hubtag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/landofsunshine//1488.648412013-10-01T17:00:59Z2014-05-09T18:24:25ZWhen brainstorming how to shape the October 6 Grand Park Hub for CicLAvia, the idea of LINES + LANES emerged -- an exploration of the intersection of L.A. culture and transit.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
To many, participation in CicLAvia means taking advantage of the miles of open streets through various non-motorized forms. At the same time, CicLAvia offers a chance to hang out at a select assortment of curated hubs along the route. The hubs for me have become something to look forward to, as they offer a chance to immerse oneself in spaces curated by community members and organizations working in the particular neighborhood where the hubs are located.

So when The Music Center asked me and a small interdisciplinary team of public space, civic engagement, art, and bicycle advocates to be part of a think tank to work with them and the Grand Park staff to shape the October 6 Grand Park Hub for CicLAvia -- I was all in.

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Discussions within the think tank ranged from the importance of bicyclists and walkers as alternative transportation to cars, the need to connect CicLAvia to healthy behavior outcomes, how to make Grand Park an icon of L.A.'s public culture, the responsibility to offer kid-friendly activities, to the commonplace goal to create a familial atmosphere that is consistent with weekend park use across the southland.

What resulted from the collaboration is The Music Center presentation of LINES + LANES -- an exploration of the intersection of L.A. culture and transit. Music Center program manager Rebecca Baillie, and assistant director of community partnerships Katherine Bonalos, see LINES + LANES as part of the center's overall program to "encourage participation in the arts as a form of civic engagement and activate public spaces in new ways." They see the LINES + LANES as a way to engage Grand Park Hub visitors through "people to people, people to art-making, and people to transit" activities.

In addition to music and food trucks that now bless the majority of CicLAvia hubs, Grand Park Hub visitors will be able to connect with other people through giant-sized checkers, chess, Connect 4, and Jenga games in the park. Hub visitors will be able to connect with their inner-artists through creating "bicycle bling" by upcycling bicycle parts, paint a mural on a truck, and contribute to a twisted balloon community sculpture. Visitors will also be able to connect with playful aspects of transit culture by creating their own personal bicycle spoke cards and test-driving pogo sticks, trikes, or scooters around a mini-track.

Grand Park Hub's set of activities shine a light on several important aspects of hub activities during CicLAvia. First is the need to curate places to gather and interact during CicLAvia. The day has become a time when L.A. becomes a small town to the routine participants, and many are able to see friends and acquaintances during the event. Hubs facilitate this "small town" feeling, as participants can hang out at a hub and expect to see other like-minded Angelenos stopping to interact at a hub.

Second, and what was heard clearly in The Music Center think tank discussions, and accommodated through programming for the Grand Park Hub, is that CicLAvia should not be a race track for bicyclists or a hipster bike affair, but should encourage time for families to enjoy open space and for kids, especially, to enjoy an expanded playground. Los Angeles is not particularly known as a family-friendly or kid-friendly city. Part of the reason is the city's inability to create family-friendly and kid-friendly public spaces; CicLAvia hub curators, such as The Music Center, aim to reverse this. As mentioned, the Grand Park hub will have a robust suite of creative and playful activities for kids. Just as important, they will be bringing in picnic tables and apparatuses to provide shade for visitors to the park.

Lastly, Grand Park is a key public space in our polycentric city of Los Angeles. Relatively new to the DTLA landscape, the park stretches from City Hall on Spring Street to The Music Center on Grand Avenue. Flanking the park, vertical-wise, are several county buildings, including the L.A. County Hall of Administration. Not many Angelenos feel connected to the halls of government that anchor the city's and county's public life. It is a hope that Angelenos who engage with the space on Sunday, come back and explore the historic institutions that surround the park. As citizens, this is their City Hall, their County Hall, their public courts of law, and their Grand Park. Angelenos should claim it as theirs by engaging more with the spaces where public decisions are being made by our elected officials. Furthermore, Angelenos should come up with their own publicly minded ideas to activate the public spaces, and create even more public use of the park beyond the occasional programmed CicLAvia hub.

Top: This section of Grand Park in between Spring Street and Broadway will be activated as LINES + LANES. Photo courtesy of Grand Park.

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The SaySay Project: Engaging the Filipino Community through Oral Historytag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/landofsunshine//1488.644972013-09-18T20:30:33Z2013-11-15T19:30:08ZSaySay, a Tagalog expression that means both "to have intrinsic value and to declare," is the concept behind the storytelling project.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
"Hi, I'm Michael Nailat--originally from Oxnard, California and now living in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles." So went the start of one video interview with Filipinos and Filipino-Americans, who stood in front of a camera as part of a storytelling initiative called the SaySay project, coordinated by FilAm Arts at the 22nd annual Festival for Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC) held at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.

SaySay, a Tagalog (Philippine language) expression that means both "to have intrinsic value and to declare," is the concept behind the storytelling project, which looks to gather stories from the Filipino diaspora in order to share the stories with the current community and future generations.

The goals of the SaySay project include documenting the contributions of Filipinos to the U.S., and connecting their experiences to the Philippines. These goals are relevant to the Filipino and Filipino-American community in Southern California, which is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic groups in the region, but still remain generally invisible as an ethnic community. Moreover, a sentiment that U.S.-born Filipinos are not connected with their ethnic identity and history exists among the older generation of Filipino immigrants.

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This sentiment of invisibility and Filipino identity disconnect was strongly stated by long-time community advocate and endearingly known Tita (auntie) Norma Austin. At the launch of the project during the FPAC kick-off reception, Tita Austin fiercely addressed the room of Filipinos, especially the younger generation, with calls for the community to "open your eyes," "we're not seen, we're not heard," and "let's get our story straight and let's tell our story." Perhaps her strongest call was that the community needed "orgullo," meaning a sense of national pride.

Philippine pride and a sense of commitment to her home country is not something that Tita Austin lacks. Her departure from the Philippines when she was a young woman took her to Germany in 1970, New York in 1971, and then finally Los Angeles in 1972. Through her years in L.A. she has continued to support the Filipino-American community. In 1982 she brought her passion to the streets by marching with activists, including Remedios Gaega, on Wilshire Boulevard to protest Marshal Law in the Philippines during the Ferdinand Marcos presidential regime. In 1999 she by co-founded FilAm Arts, a community arts organization whose mission is to "advance the understanding of the arts and diverse cultural heritage of Filipinos in the United States through presentation, arts services and education."

Stories of Philippine pride, and connections that can be recalled through community storytelling initiatives like the SaySay project, are vital to the Filipino community. For others the project did not only bring up connections to the Philippines that emphasized national politics, but telling one's story about their Filipinoness also brought up sensibilities of one's bi-culturality in Los Angeles.

Philippine-born Pilar Diaz, who immigrated to and grew up in Colorado and now lives in Los Angeles, was asked about her experience being interviewed during the SaySay Project. She said, "it made me reflect about who I am, how I got here. Even though I go about my everyday life in L.A. operating as an American, telling my story reminded me that I'm Filipino, have Filipino values, and see the world as a Filipino too."

The sensibility of "both" and "and" when it comes to ethnic populations such as Filipinos describing their lives in America is one of the biggest impacts of storytelling engagement projects like SaySay. Even though the United States may give lip service to it being a 'nation of immigrants,' Americans are still seduced into the idea that there is only one way of being American, and often have distorted views of an America that privileges the less ethnically diverse mainstream images of the 1950s. In reality, the United States, and Los Angeles in particular, has been and is continually becoming less racially homogenous. SaySay gives voice to not a New America, but an ethically diverse America that has been, and is today.

The SaySay project is effective for many reasons. One is its dedication to being community-sourced. SaySay is spearheaded by a Filipino-American non-profit, and the project's primary audience is Filipinos first. This is important because the Filipino-American community needs to prioritize knowing itself in its many existences, and take on presenting itself outward to the general public as a sequential goal.

A second effective reason is that the project recognizes that Filipinos live in various L.A. neighborhoods and California cities. The project is designed to be mobile and accessible, as the project team is coordinated to set up the multimedia production effort at various spaces across the region where Filipinos communicate and gather. This acknowledges the fact that all Filipinos don't only live in Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, but have actually settled across the city, in neighborhoods such as Eagle Rock and Panorama City. Beyond the City of Los Angeles, Filipinos make up the largest Asian population in California, with 1.5 million people, and have strong communities in Glendale, Carson, Cerritos, Oxnard, Daly City, National City, Oakland, and Stockton among others.

It is a hope that the SaySay project, which is funded by the James Irvine Foundation, can continue to gather stories of the many Filipinos and Filipino-Americans who live across the various spaces and places of California. Ethnic storytelling, led by ethnic communities themselves, present essential value to Los Angeles and California knowing its global self.

Los Angeles specifically occupies the global city space of an immigrant America. It is encouraging that Mayor Eric Garcetti believes in this, and has established an Office of Immigrant Affairs. As a next step, the office, along with other institutions, media outlets, universities, and neighborhoods, should encourage public storytelling initiatives that share stories of the dual ethnic ways of life experienced by the growing majority of this city.

Photos by George Villanueva.

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A Coffee Shop Pops Up Along the L.A. Rivertag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/nela//2236.645092013-09-13T18:00:50Z2014-01-13T22:44:14ZSipping coffee along the L.A. River is now a reality as RAC Design Build and Cafecito Orgánico have teamed up to hold a pop-up coffee shop along the river's pedestrian and bike path in Elysian Valley.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2236&id=8417The NELA Riverfront Collaborative is an interdisciplinary project that builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the Los Angeles River into a "riverfront district" and to create a focal point of community revitalization. KCET Departures is the media partner of the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative. For more information visit the website www.mylariver.org

Update: Join Cafecito Organico this Saturday and Sunday, January 11 and 12, at the Elysian. You can also rent a bike and stroll through the neighborhoods or along the river, take a bird watching tour (9am and 10am, Saturday only), and enjoy a breakfast afterwards. Elysian is located at 2806 Clearwater St. Los Angeles, CA 90039

Sipping coffee along a river may conjure up thoughts of a café along the Thames River in London or the Seine River in Paris. For Angelenos, coffee along the L.A. River is now a reality as RAC Design Build and Cafecito Orgánico have teamed up to hold a pop-up coffee shop along the river's pedestrian and bike path in Elysian Valley.

Named after the 24.7 mile marker along the river bike trail (between Coolidge and Denby Avenues) where RAC Design Build's back patio opens up to, the 24.7 River Café will be open from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. this Saturday, September 14.

The pop-up coffee shop's first test run took place August 24 during the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative's (NELA RC) planning and mobility workshop, and was a big success. In addition to workshop participants, pleasantly surprised bicyclists and walkers along the trail stopped by to indulge in expertly roasted artisan coffee.

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Cafecito Orgánico, whose mission includes sustainable coffee practices through the creation of direct relationships with major coffee growing regions across the world, served long lines the first time around, and expect to serve even more on Saturday.

With the growing interest in revitalizing the L.A. River for the Northeast communities and all Angelenos, the innovative cafe is a sensible idea. The effort activates the river space by engaging visitors beyond recreational use, and builds on the local economic development opportunities that exist around one of the city's best community assets.

It also exposes the city to committed local businesses, such as RAC Design Build, who make their space not only a place of business, but a space for community and public gathering. Furthermore, the partnership with small business coffee roasters, such as Cafecito Orgánico, creates local economic development opportunities built on socially conscious relationships.

The neighborhood of Elysian Valley is also situated in an area between the river and the 5 freeway that lacks many neighborhood amenities, such as a full market, restaurants, and coffee shops. This Saturday's pop-up coffee shop offers a vision of amenities that can add to the neighborhood. It also encourages bicyclists to pause and not speed through the neighborhood, where many use the trail as a walking path and have to constantly remind bicyclists to share the path with pedestrians in mind.

So, whether you are bicycling the path, taking a neighborhood stroll, or fishing in the river -- swing by the 24.7 River Café. And if you get your early morning caffeine fix, be sure to also come out to attend the last NELA RC summer policy engagement workshop, and participate in creating ideas for more sustainable economic development along the river, like the pop-up coffee shop.. The workshop will take place from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., September 14, at Atwater Crossing in Atwater Village in Northeast L.A.

Top: Photo by George Villanueva.

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NELA RC Summer Interns Are Awarded City Certificates for their Hard Worktag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/nela//2236.644372013-09-10T18:30:54Z2013-11-21T22:02:49ZWith the summer coming to a close, the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative (NELA RC) summer intern cohort ended their internships with a celebration.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=2236&id=8417
With the summer coming to a close, the Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative (NELA RC) summer intern cohort ended their internships with a celebration at Home Restaurant on Riverside Drive in the Silver Lake/ Elysian Valley area. Among those present at the end of summer celebration were Ryan Carpio from the Mayor's office and Mary Rodriguez from Council District 13, to award the interns city certificates that thanked them for their contributions to the NELA RC project.

The interns were recruited from local colleges and universities; some also represented universities as far away as UC Berkeley, MIT, Manchester in the United Kingdom, and Sciences Po Lyon in France. Their summer work in partnership with the NELA RC resulted in surveying close to 700 residents, 75 small businesses, helping coordinate community workshops, monitoring local media, and writing media stories to tell the story of their intern experiences in the field.

The community input they gathered through the multiple forms of engagement will inform the NELA RC partner work, which will result in sustainable economic development recommendations, a vision plan, civic engagement strategies, and neighborhood stories for the NELA RC project.

Ghost Pop: Haunting Boyle Heights with Sounds of an Asian Diasporatag:www.kcet.org,2013:/socal/departures/landofsunshine//1488.641672013-09-05T20:00:53Z2013-11-15T19:49:32ZThe largely Latino family and youth audience listened to the sounds influenced by the Asian Diaspora.George Villanuevahttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1488&id=8417
"Does anyone know how to belly dance?" shouted the lead singer of Bitter Party, to a mainly Latino crowd of families and kids that attended a Summer Night Lights (SNL) event at Lou Costello Recreation Center in Boyle Heights. Perhaps an out of place question in most North American cities, because of belly dancing's Middle Eastern roots; the moment nonetheless made sense to an Angeleno like me, who feels that these experiential spaces are what makes Los Angeles the synchronistically diverse city we all can relate to.

A few weeks ago I attended one of the last SNL events held at the recreation center to watch the performance by Bitter Party. SNL is a program organized by the city's Gang Reduction Youth Development (GRYD) program, aimed at taking back parks in historically gang infested parts of the city by creating family-friendly programming patrolled by LAPD. The programmed activities, in over 30 parks citywide, take place Wednesday-Saturday from 7 p.m.-12 a.m., summer night stints that are considered high gang activity times. GRYD program coordinator Miguel León says SNL presents an alternative to gang activity, and "manifests community, partnership, and youth expression."

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SNL, and that night in particular, also presented a space that embodied L.A.'s openness to multiethnic and multicultural signs of life. The park activities that night included what you may expect to see at most park events for families, such as sports, picnic table games, bbq, and music blasting over loud speakers. Lou Costello Recreation Center is in Boyle Heights, situated between the heavily Latino Wyvernwood Garden Apartments and the Estrada Courts public housing project -- so enter street vending and a clown, performing mainly in Spanish in front of a large group of kids.

But the space is also 21st century Los Angeles, a city not only known for its proliferating Latino and Asian populations, but also its artists who are willing to engage in spaces that share in L.A.'s multiethnic ecologies. This is where Bitter Party comes in with their offer of "Ghost Pop" to the largely Latino family and youth audience, who listened to the sounds influenced by the Asian Diaspora. To learn more, I interviewed Bitter Party lead singer Wendy Hsu.

What's the history and concept/vision behind Bitter Party and "Ghost Pop"?

Wendy: Bitter Party formed early last year after we moved to L.A. from Virginia. The "bitter" part of the band name refers to the melancholy war-era and postwar music that fuels our creativity. The word for bitter in Chinese also means hardships, and are associated with colonial and war-related poverty. As a band, we "party", i.e. come together, to remember our past and to provoke a communion over of tribulations.

"Ghost Pop" is a driving principle behind Bitter Party. Ghosts are sounds of a distant past or place that are rendered invisible in the canon. Each one of us in the band has identified a set of ghosts, often related to our sense of heritage and community, and located them in old songbooks, field recordings, Youtube archives, and our memories of family. We let these sonic ghosts haunt us, and inspire us. Our violin/viola player, Lam, is interested in songs from postwar Vietnam that he's heard his mother sing. I draw materials from 1930s-1970s Taiwan, working with a repertoire of popular and folk songs that evoke Taiwan's history of the Japanese occupation and personally, memories of my grandparents. Then using my computer, usually integrating location recordings that I have collected during my fieldwork in Taiwan, I create a sonic shell for these ghosts to wander in, a place in which their energy is reactivated.

How does Bitter Party and Ghost Pop engage the spaces of an Asian Diaspora?

Wendy: We are a geographically sensitive bunch. A part of our songwriting process is to map the routes by which our songs of interest have sourced and traveled. Most of our scope follows a history of transpacific exchanges and migration between Asia and the Americas, a continued research and musical interest since graduate school and my last band Dzian!

For instance, in rewriting the 1930s pop song from Taiwan that I heard in fragments, I took the song on a detour to Jamaica on its way to its U.S.-based audience. Originally called "Sigh by a Woman," the song articulates the feelings of romantic longing from a female perspective. I was thinking a lot about my grandparents at the time, lamenting that they were living away from their home in Taiwan, in a place where no one except for their family understood the language that they spoke. I thought to recontextualize the feeling of longing to speak to the collective experience of migration. So I "changed the title to "Sigh by the Sea," took out the lyrics, wrote a new section, and then added the deepened sense of space that is characteristic of dub music -- another diasporic music that is preoccupied by distance and migration -- into our version of the song. The song is in part gestured toward the greater Chinese diaspora in the world.

During my research, I found that the Chinese living in Kingston were integral to the emergence of the reggae scene in Jamaica. In particular, I found this sense of homeward nostalgia in the haunting performance "Always Together," by Stephen Cheng. The melody is a Taiwanese song that was originally featured in a movie about pastoral Taiwan, then became a nursery rhyme by the time I learned it as a child. In my research, I observed that Taiwanese in diaspora feel an intense nostalgia when listening to this song. For that reason, I thought dub -- itself being a remix-based genre -- would articulate the (geographical) fringes of diasporic sounds.

Of course Asia is a vast continent, and our interest has mostly been with east and Southeast Asia, because of our personal connections to the continent. We map and remap the route of how sounds travel and re-root itself in different places. Our hope is to establish a new home for these itinerant sounds in cosmopolitan Los Angeles.